Pumps will not have to be used this year at Lake Cowichan’s weir after all.
Brian Houle, environment manager at the Domtar Crofton mill, which owns and operates the weir, said on Oct. 10 that the recent wet weather has impacted the water levels in Cowichan Lake significantly, so the plans to pump water over the weir have been cancelled.
Domtar was planning to rent 20 large water pumps to pump water from the lake into Cowichan River to sustain the river’s base-water flow in the Cowichan River after dry and hot weather conditions during the summer saw water levels in the lake plummet.
After a severe drought that struck the area in the summer of 2023, Domtar had to use 20 pumps for more than a month in September and October of that year to pump water over the weir to sustain water levels in the river.
Domtar had initially planned for the pumps to be in operation by about Sept. 15, but that date had been postponed a number of times as water levels slowly rose during a number of wet periods in recent weeks.
Regulators of the Cowichan watershed decided on Aug. 13 to reduce water flows from the lake over the weir to 4.5 cubic metres per second.
With lake levels now rising, the regulators decided to increase the water flow over the weir to 5.5 cms on Oct. 3, and increased it again to 7.08 cms on Oct. 6.
“With salmon moving from the ocean into the Cowichan River at this time of year, it’s a very busy watershed right now,” Houle said.
The drought in 2023 not only lowered water levels in Cowichan Lake and the Cowichan River dramatically, but also impacted water quality, which together resulted in the deaths of approximately 84,000 fish in the river.
This summer, Domtar had qualified professionals in the river helping to salvage fish stranded in pools, as well as measuring water quality.
